The Third Kira
by riaurix
Summary: The third Kira is nothing like Kira at all. She is more like the devil than a god. L x Third Kira.
1. Just for Fun

**Note to readers: New chapter every day. Feel free to let me know your thoughts and suggestions!**

Sukiro was not a murderer. Or rather, she had never been a murderer or even considered herself capable of murdering someone. But Sukiro had never been given the chance to do so, either. She had never been in the situation where she had someone's life in her hands, where she could end someone's life with just the pull of a trigger. She was small and introverted, not someone who would ever confront anyone she disliked, even when she sometimes felt enough hate to do so. She had never been given a gun before, however. What she was given instead was a notebook. A notebook of death.

A Death Note.

At first she had doubted the notebook. It appeared cheesy and as fake and ordinary as any other notebook could get. It had rules written on it, all which seemed to indicate that the notebook could be used to kill. But of course she wouldn't believe so. You had to be Delusional and stupid to believe something like that. And Sukiro was anything but stupid. Or at least, she liked to think she wasn't the least stupid at all. Delusional? Maybe a little. Sometimes.

Sukiro had heard everything about Kira. Kira was her source of envy. His method of murdering didn't interest her in the least. What did it matter if it was with a gun or just by wishing so? As long as it ended someone's life on one's will, it was enough to her. She envied his courage. His power. His will. And also, his loyalty to his ideals. He didn't seem to kill out of hate. He killed not for himself, but for the better of the world. Although that was what least mattered to Sukiro. If she had Kira's powers, she probably wouldn't kill for other people. She would most definitely kill for herself. She was selfish and slightly psychotic in that sense.

Sukiro took the notebook home because in a way, it caught her interest. She didn't hate the idea of playing God, even if was all a little fantasy. She had never before made use of a diary, but a diary of death suddenly appealed to her. Maybe she could release her inner tensions that way. Let out her twisted needs.

 _Gina Tadao_ was the first name she wrote down, with a twisted smile taking over her thin lips. It was her first year at To-Oh university, and she already felt sickened by the sight of that girl. Plastic. Annoying. Irrational. Everything she could possibly hate in a person. Usless. Yes, definitely useless. The world wouldn't be better without her, she was as insignificant as anything could get. She wouldn't be better either, Sukiro knew. But it would be someone less to annoy her, and that was something. Yes, that was enough for her to want Gina Tadao dead. More than enough.

 _Suni Akako_ was the next name Sukiro wrote. She had no specific reason to write that girl's name down, either. Simply because she was slightly annoyed by her existence. And also because she was a little bored. She chuckled a little as she wrote it down. _I would do a terrible God,_ she thought. _A really fun one, too._

Sukiro almost wrote her own name down.


	2. New Beginning

**Note to readers: New chapter every day. Feel free to let me know your thoughts and suggestions!**

The following day, Sukiro arrived fairly late to her English class in To-Oh University. Mainly because she had stayed up later than usual the night before, imagining a world were she could get rid of who she pleased, whenever she pleased, without any consequence whatsoever. But also because she had woken up without a grain of motivation to assist her university. It was the best university in Tokyo, one which anyone with an ounce of brain would die to study at. Anyone but Sukiro. She hated that place just as much as she hated pretty much everything. She didn't even know why she had chosen to follow the career she had applied to. She had nothing to do with Criminal justice, nor did Criminal Justice had anything to do with her. As a matter of fact, justice meant nothing to her. Why was she there, then? She didn't have the slightest clue. Because she could, maybe. Or maybe because she liked irony.

When she entered the classroom, everyone was completely silent. It was a heavy silence, one that even she, a girl who knew silence more than anyone else, felt uncomfortable with. A piercing silence that demanded noise, but was too afraid to bring it itself. Everyone turned to Sukiro as she closed the door behind her, almost as if they had been waiting for her all along. Although that was definitely not the case.

Sukiro sat in her usual place at the back row, behind a brunette girl who always wore her hair in a ponytail. Sukiro preferred her own hair down, mainly because, in a way, it felt like a shield. She didn't _hide_ her face behind her hair, but it somehow felt as if it slightly shielded her from the world. She looked around and noticed everyone but two people were in the room. Two girls, to be specific. Gina Tadao and Suni Akako, to be even more specific.

Sukiro let out a shriek without intending to. She didn't notice how everyone in the room turned to look at her in surprise. Without a second thought, Sukiro stood up from her seat and jolted to the door, her heart piercing her chest with heavy beats.

"It must be a coincidence," Sukiro let out once she dropped to the ground on the rooftop of the university, both exhausted and terrified . She had locked the door behind her, although it was unlikely that someone would come after her. Anyone who did could get into trouble, as stupid as it sounded. "I must clear my head. It isn't possible that I killed them!"

Sukiro closed her eyes and took a few minutes to calm herself down. She needed to think clearly. She couldn't let herself act upon impulses as she had just done. What would everyone think of her running away just after arriving to class? Would she look suspicious? No, of course not. She hoped not.

"Maybe they aren't even dead," She muttered to herself. "It wouldn't be unlike girls like them to miss class."

But both of them? They weren't even friends. In fact, Sukiro had never seen them speak to each other before. She disliked them both, but she had to admit that they were very different to each other. Although they were equally unpleasing to her.

After a few minutes of reflection, Sukiro began to feel better. She was no longer as agitated as she had just been, which made everything easier to her, even breathing. Sukiro even began to laugh after a few seconds of silence. She had been so unlike herself today, and it was hilarious. _You're not as hard to unsettle as you had thought, Sukiro,_ she thought to herself with a smile. _You're the most annoying of them all, after all._

Sukiro pulled out her death note from her backpack and opened it up to the page where her first two victims were written on. Of course she didn't know if they were actually her victims, and a part of her hoped they weren't. But if they were, would she be a victim if she wrote her own name down? Or would she still be a murderer? More importantly, did it even matter?

"You're easy to find," A voice said from overhead. Sukiro looked up in shock as a tall creature descended gracefully before her. There was nothing graceful about its appearance, though. It was a black skeletal creature with long black hair that resembled dead snakes more than it did hair falling from its head. It had red eyes and a demonic smile on its face.

Sukiro didn't scream this time, but stared at the creature in front of her in horrified shock. A demon had come for her. Would she be taken to hell for her sins? Had she truly committed murder?

"Now, now, don't you look so scared," The creature said as it stretched a helping had at her. She turned her shocked glare at the offering hand, finding the gesture even more terrorizing than the creature itself. What in the world was happening?

The creature sighed and decided to sit down in front of her instead. "I guess I should introduce myself first. I must look truly horrifying to a human, huh? I guess I'd thought that a human who had used the death note wouldn't deem me as horrifying anymore, since you are in a way horrifying yourself."

"D-death note?" Sukiro repeated in a breathless voice and looked down to the notebook she was holding in her hands just for a fleeting second before gaping back at the creature before her. A demon, she concluded. It is definitely a demon.

"I'm Yuuko, a Shinigami, and also the owner of the death note you're holding," the creature said and then, with a second thought, added, "The previous owner, actually. You are the new owner now."

"Death note," Sukiro said again, although this time with less terror in her voice. She turned her eyes back to the notebook in her hands once again, although this time she kept them there. "So it's real? This notebook?"

Yuuko nodded with an evil grin. "You've tried it out already, haven't you?"

"I'm a murderer," Sukiro looked up at the Shinigami in front of her in realization. This time, she surprisingly had a smile on her face. "I truly murdered them. I..." She trailed off, not knowing what else to say. Why did she suddenly have so much adrenaline running through her veins, a thrill that brightened her face with sadistic evil. "Are you here to kill me?"

"Of course not," Yuuko answered. "I'm here to see you die the slowest, most entertaining death I've ever seen. I'm here to see the death note in action in a human's possession."

Sukiro didn't care about the death part of what the Shinigami had just said. She was there to spectate. And spectate she would, for Sukiro was suddenly filled by the power that she had just realized she held. When Yuuko noticed this, she smiled in satisfaction and stood up, once again offering a helping had to Sukiro.

This time, Sukiro reached for Yuuko's hand without hesitation.


	3. Suspect

**Note to readers: New chapter every day. Feel free to let me know your thoughts and suggestions!**

When Sukiro returned to her English class, tailored by a floating God of Death, there was still one hour of class-time left. Despite this, the classroom was completely vacant. No, not completely vacant, Sukiro realized as she noticed the flowers carefully placed on two specific desks. Sukiro walked to Suni's desk. It didn't have nearly as many flowers as Gina's did. The flowers weren't as pretty, either. For some reason, this angered Sukiro. And for an even less fathomable reason, Sukiro found herself dropping her backpack next to Suni's desk and leaving the room. A very confused Yuuko followed her human partner as she went to the garden outside the building and began cutting some flowers.

"What in the world are you doing?" The Shinigami asked, but didn't receive an answer. Instead, Sukiro returned to her English classroom with a handful of flowers, the most beautiful flowers she found. It hadn't been hard, since the To-Oh University had really beautiful flowers in its gardens. If there was something Sukiro truly liked, were beautiful flowers.

Sukiro placed the flowers carefully on Suni's desk, smiling in approval as she saw how beautiful it now looked.

"You are truly something," Yuuko said in amusement. "Could that be guilt what you have just shown?"

Sukiro looked back at the Shinigami and smiled a smile that was neither evil nor kind, but just as she was about to answer, she noticed someone leaning against the entrance door, staring at Sukiro with eyes that seemed to have never met sleep in their lives. Her heart fell to her stomach at that moment. For a second, Sukiro felt as if she had been busted. Even if that was an impossible probability.

"Those were beautiful flowers you chose," The young man said with an amused voice. He kept staring at her while chewing on his thumb, and it almost felt as though he was staring into her soul.

Sukiro chose it was better not to respond. She was the kind of person that, when feeling need to speak to someone, simply kept quiet. The young man had a very lousy appearance, and just by looking at him, she knew he was all but interesting. He could compliment the flowers all he wanted once she was gone. After all, she had very important things to do. Thus, Sukiro picked up her bag and headed to the door, not even looking at the young man as she walked toward him. However, as he saw Sukiro's intention of leaving the room, the young man placed himself right in front of the door, obstructing Sukiro's way. He had a particular way of standing, Sukiro noticed. Slouched, as though gravity was too much for his lazy body. Still, even if he was slouched, he towered Sukiro enough to make her take a step back and finally look up at him, her legs beginning to tremble.

Sukiro hated confrontations. She didn't understand what the young man could possibly want to confront her about, but she didn't like it nonetheless. Even if she knew she had the power to kill him, Sukiro couldn't help feeling small at that moment. _No,_ she realized. _I don' know his name. I couldn't kill him even if I wanted to._

The Shinigami noticed Sukiro's sudden change in humor. She no longer had the confidence that she had had a few minutes ago, when she Sukiro had realized she had the power of killing. Yuuko didn't know what the boy intended to do, but Sukiro's discomfort was nearly palpable to the Shinigami. _What an interesting human,_ Yuuko thought. A killer who felt the thrill of murder, compassion to her victims, and cowardice all the same day.

The young man must have also noticed the sudden fear in Sukiro's eyes because he raised a curious eyebrow at her.

"Forgive my insolence, I didn't mean to scare you," He said, failing in his attempt to give Sukiro a reassuring smile. "I'm interested in talking with you. You wouldn't mind, would you?"

Sukiro didn't know what to respond. Was he giving her an option?

"Umm..." She began, but of course he didn't let her finish.

"Perhaps at the University's park? I find that it is pleasingly quiet today, and there are beautiful flowers, too," He offered, and again she had the feeling that he wouldn't take no as an answer.

She thought about telling him that she needed to attend another class, but figured that since the class had ended early today, that wouldn't be an acceptable excuse. Also, it was most likely that a lot of her classes, if not all, would be suspended today. Everyone in her class was probably already back in their houses, some mourning over their two dead classmates, others celebrating about the free day they were given.

Sukiro sighed. "Alright."

"You haven't told me your name," Sukiro said shyly as they found a bench where to seat at the park. He had been right, she realized. The park was fairly quiet today, and the flowers were truly beautiful. Sukiro hadn't been at this part of the University before, since she never wandered through its buildings, and only went to where she had to go and then directly back to her house.

After a second of silence, Sukiro turned to look at him in confusion, only to realize that ever since Kira became common knowledge, asking someone's name was a little more delicate than it had used to be. Of course, she understood just why. Especially now that she could also kill with a name and a face. Even so, it hadn't occurred to her that her question would be taken the wrong way.

"Ryuzaki Hideki," he answered anyway, turning back to looking straight ahead at the scenery before them. "And you must be Sukiro, am I wrong?"

"How do you know my name?" Sukiro asked, surprised. She had never seen him before, nor did she talk to many people either. She doubted there were many people at the university that knew her name.

"We share several classes in common," He said simply. "And I'm somewhat good with names too, you could say."

Sukiro nodded, although she was still not convinced. She decided that she would write his name down tonight, even if there was a high possibility that he had merely given her an alias. For some reason, she felt like his death would bring her more peace.

"Why don't you try killing him now?" The Shinigami suggested behind her with a little chuckle, making her jump a little. Ryuzaki placed his curious raccoon eyes on her, and Sukiro mentally cursed at Yuuko.

"He wouldn't notice," Yuuko continued. "You could pretend to write something trivial down in your death note, and he would think nothing about it. I wonder what would happen."

Sukiro truly wanted to kill her Shinigami then, even if she did find some sense in her words. But there was something about its laugh that told her that not even the Shinigami believed its words.

"Please kill my curiosity," Ryuzaki said suddenly, making Sukiro jump a little again at the word _kill_. "Why did you run away from class earlier today?"

Sukiro looked away and pretended to be submerged in the beauty of the flowers to buy herself some time to come up with an adequate response. However, Ryuzaki began to talk again before she could even pronounce a word.

"You weren't present when Mr. Hikari announced the death of two of our classmates. Yet all it took for you to react the way you did was one glance to their empty desks." Ryuzaki chewed on his thumb for a second before continuing with his amused analysis of Sukiro's actions. "It was almost as if you had already known that they would die...although you would have to be Kira if that were the case."

This time Sukiro really jumped. "What?"

Ryuzaki chuckled. "You're right, it couldn't have been Kira who killed both Gina-san and Suni-San, and you clearly aren't Kira. Forgive my erroneous speculations."

Sukiro looked at Ryuzaki perplexed, thinking what strange guy he was. "Why couldn't I be Kira? According to your theory, if I had truly already known about the deaths without being told, then I must have something to do with their deaths. But then since they..." Sukiro was about to state their cause of death, which had most likely been a heart attack if the rules of the death note were completely legit, but refrained herself. Her saying that would definitely put suspicion in her.

"Since they?" Ryuzaki probed, looking at her with great interest. Curiosity. Looking almost anxious for her to slip and admit that she indeed killed the two girls.

"Since they died just yesterday, and I _didn't_ know about their deaths nor had any kind of relationship with them, then it was definitely not me who killed them."

"You could be right," said, not sounding completely convinced yet, which made Sukiro bite her lower lip. "However it couldn't have been Kira, either," he concluded, "Since Kira only kills criminals and people who oppose him. It would be very unlike him to kill two innocent girls."

 _Innocent girls,_ Sukiro repeated in her mind. Where they truly innocent? Why did innocence of any crime determine that someone should keep living? They were useless. That is all what should matter.

"Careful," Yuuko muttered behind Sukiro, surprising her a little, but Sukiro managed to not react noticeably to her partner's words. "Say the wrong thing and you might get into trouble, Sukiro."

Sukiro didn't understand why the Shinigami was even warning her. Yuuko had made it more than clear that she would find her death amusing, so it didn't make sense for it to worry about her. Although its warning didn't necessarily imply that the Shinigami cared about her in the least.

"You're right," Sukiro said, both to the Shinigami as well as to Ryuzaki. "It probably wasn't Kira. And anyway, why does it matter that I ran away? How does that imply that I had anything to do with their deaths? As a matter of fact, I don't even know how or why they died. I only came to suspect their deaths once I saw the flowers, and also now that you are letting me know." Sukiro thought for a second. "And anyway, I have no reason to tell you why I ran away today. It's something personal that has absolutely nothing to do with you or anyone at this University. And so you shouldn't stick your nose on other people's businesses."

Even Sukiro was surprised at what she had just said. She had never thought herself capable of speaking with such conviction, let along speaking up for herself. She was suddenly afraid that her words would lead up to an argument or a fight and went back to staring at the flowers, her upper teeth further bruising her lower lip.

"I'm sorry if I gave off that impression," Ryuzaki said flatly, not sounding the least sincere. "I'm not used to leaving my curiosities unattended. But you are most definitely right, you probably had nothing to do with the deaths of those girls."

Ryuzaki stood up and slipped his hands into his pockets, once again adopting that slouched posture of his. "One word of advice," he said, looking up at the sky, as though in thought. "Avoid doing things that may be interpreted the wrong way. It will save you trouble." Without looking back at her, he began to walk away. However he only took a few steps before coming to a halt.

"One more thing," he said, this time looking at her with wide, amused eyes. "Even if I said you probably had nothing to do with their deaths, it doesn't mean I actually think so. So I hope you don't mind, Sukiro-san, but I think I'll have to keep an eye on you."


	4. Kira

Sukiro stared at the place where Ryuzaki had been even after he was already long gone with a completely blank expression. Who was that guy, who gave so much importance to her actions? Why did he even bother in suspecting her, when no one else seemed to do so? What a strange guy, she thought and smiled. If she was lucky, he was about to make things interesting in her life.  
"Why are you smiling?" Yuuko asked, placing itself in front of a smiling Sukiro. Even she felt strange doing so, as Sukiro was not very used of smiling. "If anything you should be worried. It is more than clear that the boy suspects you. If he lets any word slip to the police, you may be in trouble."

"You're correct," Sukiro said looking up at the Shinigami. "But that only means that I'll have to be a little more careful with the people I kill, now that I know that the death note is real. And also," She smiled at the Shinigami, and Yuuko was surprised to find such smile charming. "I would like to have you answer me some questions, if you don't mind. I need to know everything about the notebook if I intend to continue using it. And you must believe that I certainly do."

Sukiro sat in her bed with her arms wrapped around her knees as she heard everything Yuuko had to say about the death note. Surprisingly, the Shinigami was more than willing to tell her everything about it, and Sukiro was very grateful about that. She listened quietly and nodded every time Yuuko told her something that sounded useful to her and her plans. She decided not to take notes and to instead commit solely to her memory, since the last thing she wanted was to have more evidence against her, and the death note in a way was more than enough evidence to prove her guilty of her crimes.

What caught Sukiro's attention the most was the special deal Yuuko mentioned. She felt tempted to make the deal at that very moment, but refrained herself. She never knew when she was going to die, and halving that date might end up being more than troubling to her. So she decided to use that only as a last resort. She also realized that her most urgent problem to attend was how to hide her death note. To have her in her possession while being a suspect, even if she was only a suspect for one strange guy, was more dangerous than she should allow it to be. However, leaving it at home for her adoptive mother to find it was just as dangerous, especially since it meant that she would also be able to see Yuuko and that was bound to end badly. Still, hiding it in her house was her best bet, since she needed it somewhere easily accessible to her.

Sukiro went with a rather simple method to hide her death note. Why make it obvious with an elaborated hiding place, when she could simply place it among her books in her bookshelf. Her books were already quite dark-looking. So it wasn't very surprising that her death note blended in with them perfectly. She had a lot of books, too. She doubted anyone would get into the trouble of looking into them. She placed a black paper cover over the notebook, just in case someone were to actually look through her books and came into contact with the death note. Now in order to come in contact with the actual death note, they would have to go past the fake cover and touch the pages inside. That was in case the police ever went through her things, although she still thought that highly unlikely.

"That's its?" Yuuko asked, feeling confused. Didn't it occur to the girl that someone could actually open the notebook? Or was she relying on the obviousness of her hiding place to make it even less noticeable? Either way, the Shinigami felt that it was still risky. Especially since Kira also had a death note, and if they discovered his, the police would be searching for a notebook if Sukiro ever became a suspect. Although Sukiro obviously didn't know that Kira was also in possession of a death note, and that was information Yuuko couldn't share with her, even if it was beginning to take some liking on the human girl. Still, didn't Sukiro even suspect it?

"If I ever become a true suspect, I'll think of something else. I also have to do some research on Kira and see if I can ever contact him. I don't have any evidence that his method of murdering is through a death note, but now that I have one myself, I think it might be likely that he has one too. At least, that is more likely than him having god-like powers. And if he did, I don't see why he would only kill criminals in Japan. He should have already killed way more criminals all around the world."

Alright, so her human isn't as oblivious as Yuuko thought.

"How will you contact Kira?" Yuuko asked, truly curious.

Sukiro smiled. "I won't," she said simply, and her Shinigami raised its eyebrows. "I'll make Kira want to find _me._ "

"And how will you do that?" Yuuko pushed. This was really interesting to her. Never had she ever had this much fun in the Shinigami realm.

"Well, I don't intend to switch my victims to criminals just because a guy like Ryuzaki suspects me. Sure, I will also kill criminals, but I'm not like Kira. I don't care about people being righteous or evil. I'll kill everyone who I deem worthless. And Kira will most definitely be against this and want to eliminate me himself, since he will see me himself as another criminal. Although unlike every other criminal, he will know I too have powers similar to his, whether or not he has a death note."

Yuuko laughed, making Sukiro look up at her in confusion. Had she said something funny?

"How can someone as small as you be so despicable?" Yuuko asked, genuinely bemused at her human partner. She decided she definitely liked that girl, and felt lucky that someone like her had picked up her death note.

Sukiro shrugged. "I wonder that same thing about everyone else."


	5. Confrontation

By the second week of Sukiro's first murders, seven pages of her death note were already filled with names, all written in her small handwriting. People all over the world had already begun to suspect the existence of a new Kira, although unlike the Kira most people rooted for, this Kira seemed less selective to them. People feared this Kira more than they did the other because they never knew who the next victim would be. Being righteous no longer saved them. And being criminals only assured their deaths, either by the first Kira, the second Kira, or the third. To Sukiro, however, there was definitely a pattern, even if it was barely noticeable by everyone else. She killed the kind of people she was averse to. People who did nothing for society, who saw themselves above everyone else, who treated others poorly, people who seemed to be made out of rubber instead of skin and bones. She also killed criminals, whether petty or more serious. She even went as far as killing corrupt politicians and rich people who had way more than they provided. She wasn't afraid to kill them all. Instead, she felt the thrill when she later learned that they had died. She wanted to rid the world of those people. Everyone who made the world a living hell her and other people. Everyone who did nothing more than consume oxygen in this world.

The First Kira had already sent an announcement in Sakura TV for the Third Kira to show herself. L had already threatened to catch her and sentence her to death along with the First and Second Kira. Yet Sukiro paid no attention to either of them. She found it strange that the first Kira would even think of telling her to hand herself in. Surely, he was more intelligent than that, right? To think that she would hand herself in just because he asked for it was beyond stupid. She knew he must instead want to meet her himself, and kill her. All he needed was her name and face.

Sukiro wanted to respond to the First Kira, only to have him meet her. She sort of found that amusing and thrilling. What would he do when he found her? How would he kill her? Would he even be able to kill her? Not even Sukiro knew her real last name. Her adoptive parents had completely abandoned her when she was only a few days old. They had dumped her in a trashcan where she would be later on found by a walking person who must have heard her cries. She had been sent to an adoption center and had been adopted fairly quickly by a single woman who she now regarded as her mother. Sukiro carried her last name in every legal document. Sukiro Akane. Would that be enough to kill her? Or would he try murdering her in other ways? Sukiro found herself dying to know. After all, the last thing she feared was death. However, she was still coming up with a way to hint him about her whereabouts.

At the university, Sukiro tried to pay little attention to an observant Ryuzaki, although he made it nearly impossible.

"Hello Sukiro," He would approach hear as she sat in the cafeteria, eating the packed food her adoptive mother always insisted in making her. "Mind if we join you?" It wasn't until she registered the word _we_ in his question that she actually looked up, surprised to find Ryuzaki along with another student she had only seen a few times in her English class. What had his name been? She couldn't remember.

"I prefer to eat alone," She said. "I'm sorry."

Ryuzaki sat down anyway, followed by the other student. Sukiro sighed.

"We're sorry to intrude you. I'm Light Yagami," the boy next to Ryuzaki said with a warm, inviting smile. "My friend here doesn't tend to take no for an answer."

"Sukiro Akane," Sukiro responded, going back to looking at her food. "And yes, I already knew that." After all, Ever since Sukiro first spoke with him in the park, he had always found a way to intrude in Sukiro's day.

"What about yourself, Sukiro-san?" Ryuzaki asked. "Are you the kind of person to take no for an answer?"

"No," Sukiro looked up at Ryuzaki with challenging eyes. "I tend to murder people who don't give me answers."

After a second of silence, Sukiro laughed, even though none of the two guys found her answer funny. She didn't care, she found Ryuzaki's questions ridiculous.

"Are you implying that you have murdered before?" Ryuzaki continued calmly.

"I might murder you," She responded.

"How would you murder me, Sukiro-san?"

Sukiro let out an exhausted sigh. Ryuzaki was becoming more and more annoying by the minute.

"I would if I could," She said under her breath, and then bit her tongue. _Stupid!_

"Why can't you?" He pushed. Ryuzaki was good at making people slip, Sukiro noted.

"Ryuzaki, you're tormenting her too much," Light interrupted. "I'm sure anyone would want to kill you if you tormented them that way. Not just Kira. Give the girl a break."

"Thank you," Sukiro addressed to Light, truly meaning it, but Ryuzaki was having none of it.

"What do you think about the deaths of several students of this University, Sukiro?" Ryuzaki invited. He hadn't taken his eyes off Sukiro that entire time, probably looking for hints in her reactions that would lead to evidence. "Please share your own analysis with me."

Sukiro looked at Ryuzaki, trying to find his intentions in his eyes. they were so dark that it seemed as if they had sucked any emotion or thought that could give anything about him away. She wondered if he had always been like that.

Sukiro thought about his question. What would she think of the deaths, if she had not been their cause? It was an interesting question.

"It could be that their murderer was someone at the University," She said, feeling like saying anything else would bring more suspicion to her. After all, that was an obvious answer.

"Why?"

"Well, first of all, they are all first and second year students who are probably not very recognized outside of the University, apart from at their homes. Their causes of death have all been by heart attacks, so it must be someone with similar powers as Kira, although definitely not Kira since he wouldn't have had any reason to kill them as they are not criminals. And It cannot be the third Kira, since he is more likely to kill recognizable people, such as politicians and celebrities."

All the while, both Light and Ryuzaki listened to Sukiro closely, their eyes completely glued to their faces.

"Actually," Light said, and both Sukiro and Ryuzaki looked at him. "I think the Third Kira and the person murdering students at the University are the same person. And I believe he is currently in his first year."

"Yes, I agree," Ryuzaki said, chewing on his thumb. "Don't you, Sukiro?"

"I'm not too sure about that," Sukiro shrugged, trying not to react to how right Light was. "I don't see why the Third Kira would murder students at the University. Although I could be wrong."

"I have another question for you, Sukiro," Ryuzaki said, alerting her. How many questions did he have for her? "What do you think the Third Kira is, male or female?"

Sukiro kept silent for a moment. She didn't like the question. Could the Third Kira's gender be determined already? Was it possible to do so based on the little evidence available? Sukiro tried to come up with a convincing answer, but failed.

"I'm not sure I can determine that with the available evidence yet," She said, feeling slightly nervous under Ryuzaki's gaze. She wished he would just stop looking at her.

"You have been referring to Kira as a male, however," Ryuzaki said with a smile. "What do you think is the reason for that?"

For some reason, Sukiro found her cheeks beginning to warm up. She wanted both Ryuzaki and Light to go away. Why couldn't they leave her alone?

"I-I don't know," she said softly. "It just didn't occur to me that Kira would be a girl."

Luckily for Sukiro, Ryuzaki turned to look at Light. "What about you Light? What would you say the Third Kira's gender is?"

Light moved his hand to his chin in thought. After a moment, he concluded, "I think the Third Kira might be a girl. Considering its victims, starting from the first two girls at our English class who were disliked by many girls. Also, the Third Kira has been killing celebrities that most men wouldn't even pay attention to, especially one who has the power to kill anyone he pleases. However, the Third Kira has killed more female celebrities than male, and its victims are usually the kind a lot of girls would envy or dislike. That's what I would conclude, anyway."

Sukiro thought for a moment. She wasn't envious of them, was she? No, that was definitely not her reason of murdering. It couldn't something so immature and pathetic. She definitely disliked them, but was she truly leaning on female victims more than male? She hadn't noticed it until Light pointed it out.

"That only means you should start killing more males and be more careful when you choose your victims," Yuuko said from behind her. But she shook her head in disagreement. If she made it too obvious, the change in victims just after Light mentioned it in front of her, it would make her more suspicious.

"Is there something wrong, Sukiro?" Light asked, feigning preoccupation.

She shook her head again and smiled at him. "It's just that I hadn't noticed that when analyzing the situation, and now I realize how obvious it was. It worries me, since I'm studying Criminal Justice. I should work on my investigation skills."

"That's okay," Light reassured her with a smile. "You'll get better at it with practice." Then, with a thought, he added, "Hey, why don't you join us in our investigation team? That could help you, I'm sure, and you might help us too."

"Investigation team?" Sukiro asked in shock. "Just who are you guys?"

Light chuckled. "I guess we didn't introduce ourselves properly, I apologize. We are detectives and are responsible for investigating the Kira case."

"That's correct," Ryuzaki said. "I was also about to suggest you to join our team."

Sukiro couldn't believe her ears. It all made sense now, why Ryuzaki had been so persisting in following and interrogating her. He had been a detective all along, and that meant that she was already under scrutinization from the police. If she wasn't careful, she could end up in big trouble.

"You are detectives," She said, unable to step out of her surprise. _Calm down,_ Sukiro told herself. _You are overreacting. Don't mess up._

"Correct," Ryuzaki said, eyeing her with scrutinizing eyes. "Is there something alarming about it? It shouldn't matter to you unless you are a criminal. Then it should by all means matter."

"Of course it matters," Sukiro said matter of factually, regaining her cool. "I'm not stupid. I know you suspect me of being the Third Kira. It didn't matter to me much before, but now that I know that you are a detective, it does matter a little."

Light laughed, making Sukiro blush. Had she said the wrong thing? "Don't worry too much about it. I'm a suspect of being Kira too, aren't I, L?"

"L," Sukiro repeated slowly, as though unable to pronunciation that single letter. Now she truly couldn't believe her ears.

"Please don't give out unnecessary information just yet, Light," Ryuzaki said calmly, seeming only slightly annoyed.

Sukiro stood up suddenly and without saying anything, grabbed her backpack and ran away, making he way through the sea of students that had suddenly formed itself in the cafeteria for god knew what reason and almost tripping a few times. Luckily, she had already had her last class of the day. All she wanted to do was get away from the University and back to her safe home.

"I always had a bad feeling about that boy," Yuuko said, referring to Ryuzaki. "Now I understand why."

Sukiro almost collapsed when she reached the exit of the University. She knew her reaction could bring her trouble but simply couldn't think clearly about that at the moment. She hadn't even realized that she had crashed against a tall figure until she was pushed back.

"Hey, are you an idiot?" A low voice said, and she looked up, taken aback. How many surprised would she have to deal with today? "Watch where you're going. You made me drop my things."

"I'm sorry," Sukiro said, sounding breathless. She was about to help him pick them up when she was pushed back again. This time she was fully aware of her surroundings. It was only her and four nasty looking boys. She wondered if they even allowed tattoos at such a prestigious university.

"You thin that since you're a girl you can get away with things?" He continued. _What a terrible temper,_ she thought, feeling nauseated by him. Was he really that pathetic to start a fight with her?

"I said I'm sorry, jackass," She surprised herself by saying. At that moment, she felt so compelled to pull out a piece of her death note and kill him at the spot. She truly despised his kind. For a moment she wished she had made the deal for the eyes.

"Careful, idiot," He warned. "If I were Kira you would be dead."

Sukiro couldn't help laughing at this, which only seemed to infuriate him. "Yeah right. Someone as stupid as you could never be Kira."

Sukiro decided it was pointless to keep arguing with him. She turned away and began walking away. She would look for his name, she decided, and kill him. Letting someone like him live was out of question.

Sukiro heard a sudden thud behind her and swirled around, thinking he was about to attack her. What she found, instead, was a slouched Ryuzaki holding the arm of her angered attacker.


	6. Intruder

The first thing that went through Sukiro's head after spotting Ryuzaki was how unfortunate it was that she wouldn't be able to kill the guy without increasing his suspicion of her. He didn't know how lucky a trash of a human being he was, and Sukiro suddenly hated Ryuzaki even more. Although after a moment of silence, while everyone seemed to be taking in what was going on, Sukiro also realized the hit she would have received if Ryuzaki hadn't interfered.

"Common Usui, don't tell me that weakling is too much for you," One of his friends called, breaking the silence, and making the rest break into laughter.

"Yeah, Usui. Didn't you say you were Kira? Common, prove it now!"

Usui gritted his teeth in fury as he was still restrained by Ryuzaki. Ryuzaki, on the other hand, didn't seem the least touched by what Usui's friends had said. Probably because he was certain that Usui wasn't Kira.

"Morons," Usui said through gritted teeth. Sukiro wondered why he hadn't tried harder to release himself from Ryuzaki's hold. If anything, Usui looked like a really strong and dangerous guy to Sukiro. And he definitely didn't look like someone who liked to be humiliated. To her, it didn't seem that Ryuzaki was putting much strength into restraining Usui. It didn't make sense.

"Pathetic," one of Usui's friend said with contempt and left. The others followed shortly, giving nothing more than a glance at their restrained friend. Ryuzaki didn't react in any way to what was going on. If anything, he seemed bored.

"Please let me go," Usui muttered, his head hanging in defeat. All the while, Sukiro stood frozen, watching in disbelief the scene before her.

Ryuzaki immediately released his hold on Usui, resulting in him falling forward. Never had Sukiro seen a man the size of Usui look so defeated. A smile of satisfaction creeped into Sukiro's lips. When Usui lifted his head and locked eyes with Sukiro, however, the smile was completely gone.

Usui didn't mutter one single word, but the threat was more than clear in his eyes. If there was something Sukiro recognized without any difficulty was the presence of hatred. And Usui seemed to hate Sukiro with his life at that moment, although she couldn't understand why. She had done nothing but watch. It was despicable how human beings always seemed to hold it against the weaker. Pathetic.

It wasn't until then that Sukiro realized Ryuzaki had his eyes on her, too. She felt her cheeks heat up, and suddenly worried that she had somehow given away her thoughts. What did Ryuzaki think about her at that moment? Was he less suspicious of her since she hadn't killed Usui? Or did he think it unlikely since it would have only increased his suspicion?

Without saying a word, Sukiro swirled around and began running. She didn't know who she was running away from, Ryuzaki or Usui, nor did she know who was more dangerous to her. All she knew was that she wanted to see neither of them. She wanted to be within the safe confines of her room and have no one bother her for the rest of the day.

When Sukiro arrived to her house, she went directly into her room and locked herself inside. She closed her curtains and turned off the light, making her room go nearly completely dark. She then allowed herself to drop the the floor and wrapped her arms around her knees, feeling better now that she was completely alone, only accompanied by the darkness of her room. And Yuuko, of course. Although she had completely ignored her presence until that moment.

"Are you okay?" Yuuko asked, sounding surprisingly concerned of her human partner. She surprised herself, too, at her own question. She hadn't realized it, but she was beginning to take a liking of Sukiro. No, more than just a liking. In a way, Yuuko felt inclined to protect such a small and fragile being.

"I don't know what's happening to me," Sukiro muttered. "At this rate, Ryuzaki will find out that I'm the Third Kira in no time. And I will be executed."

"I won't let that happen," Yuuko said suddenly, surprising Sukiro.

"What?"

"I will kill whoever tries to do that to you. I know Ryuzaki's real name. If it ever comes to it, I will have no trouble killing him."

"Why?" Sukiro asked, looking at her Shinigami. Was she being serious? She had once made it clear that she was only an spectator. She had even said she found her slow death entertaining. It didn't make sense to Sukiro.

"Let's just say my life would be boring if you were to be killed," Yuuko said simply.

"Thank you, Yuuko," Sukiro smiled at her partner, making Yuuko feel happy. It was strange, Yuuko had never experienced happiness before. Everything at the Shinigami world was dull. Happiness was unknown, as well as pain. Only boredom was familiar to them.

"Well, as long as Ryuzaki doesn't find my death note, there should be no way for him to find out about me. And if he does find out about the existence of a death note, I only have to forfeit ownership of the death note before he gets a hold of it, right?"

"Correct," Yuuko nodded, although she wasn't eager of that happening. It was better than Sukiro's execution, though.

"Will you be writing people's names down on the death note tonight?" Yuuko wondered, and Sukiro nodded.

Just then, the sound of the doorbell filled Sukiro's room, a sound that was mostly unfamiliar in her house. No one ever visited neither her mother nor her. They both shared that in common, how neither of them was in any way social or had many friends. As a matter of fact, the only friend Sukiro appeared to have at the moment was Yuuko.

"Sukiro!" Sukiro's mother called from downstairs. "A friend from Ta-Ho came to visit you!"

Sukiro and Yuuko looked at each other.

When Sukiro ran down to the living room, she froze in absolute horror. Crouched over her couch was no one less than Ryuzaki, and across from him sat her smiling mother. When they heard her arrive, they both looked over at Sukiro.

"Sukiro, your friend, Ryuzaki, says he came over to work on a class project you two have," Her mother announced happily. "I'll let you two work, although you can't stay too late, I'm afraid. Are you two very far behind with your project?"

Sukiro couldn't believe her ears. A class project. With Ryuzaki. As if that would ever happen.

"Not at all," Ryuzaki assured. "It won't be long. Thank you for attending me."

"I'll make you two some tea. Are you by any chance hungry, Ryuzaki?" Sukiro's mother asked, making Sukiro sigh.

"I don't think he is," Sukiro said at the same time Ryuzaki asked "Do you have something sweet by any chance?"

Sukiro threw him a glare, which he completely ignored.

"I think we have some cake left in the kitchen. I'll go see, you can both wait for me upstairs," She said and winked at Sukiro. At that moment, Sukiro hated her. Though she had to admit it would be definitely better to speak with Ryuzaki in private, however scary and nerve-wrecking the thought of it was.

When they were finally in her room, Sukiro found her legs shaking a little. She only hoped Ryuzaki hadn't noticed at all, which he didn't seem to have. That, or he was good at ignoring things. For some reason, Sukiro couldn't help feeling weird to have a guy in her room. She never even had a girl over, let alone a guy. And him being the detective that could potentially bring her to her execution only made things worse.

"Your mother is a very nice woman," Ryuzaki commented as he sat, no crouched, on Sukiro's bed. She, on the other hand, stayed with her back against the door, as far away from Ryuzaki as possible.

"Why did you follow me home?" She asked. Her legs were still shaking, and she hated how hard it was for her at the moment to keep her cool.

Ryuzaki pulled out an English book from his bag. "You dropped your book when you ran away. Thought you would be needed it as there is English homework for the next day."

Sukiro didn't move. "Why didn't you tell that to my mom, then, instead of making up a terrible lie?"

"I didn't think it was terrible. It was actually pretty good, considering I got exactly what I wanted."

"Which was?"

"That's an interesting bookshelf you've got there," Ryuzaki stood up and walked toward the bookshelf, making Sukiro's stomach drop. Had he figured it out? She couldn't see how. Did he know about the death note already?

He pulled out a random book then opened it, gave it a quick skim and put it back in its place. He then proceeded to pull out another book, this one dangerously close to the actual death note.

"You better do something Sukiro," Yuuko warned, eyeing Ryuzaki with wary eyes.

That's when Sukiro moved quickly to where Ryuzaki was standing and snatched the book from his hands, leaving them in the same position they had been when holding the book.

"I don't remember giving you permission to start nosing into my stuff," Sukiro snapped at Ryuzaki and placed the book back into its place. She stood between the bookshelf and Ryuzaki, and instinctively to protect the death note she attempted to push Ryuzaki back, away from it. However, just when her hand made contact with his torso, Ryuzaki seized her wrist and puller her toward him, leaving her standing uncomfortably close to him, his eyes scrutinizing hers as calmly as always.


	7. Impulse

Sukiro felt her face turn completely red and her stomach turn. Her hand was still on Ryuzaki's chest, but his heart wasn't beating nearly as fast as hers.

"Am I making you uncomfortable, Sukiro?" Ryuzaki asked. Yuuko, meanwhile, stood behind them and was only containing herself from writing down Ryuzaki's name on her own death note.

For a split second, a strange impulse crossed Sukiro's mind, a thought that wasn't supposed to even exist in her head. Her eyes ventured down from Ryuzaki's dark eyes to his lips, and she felt her cheeks warm up even more. To this, Ryuzaki immediately released Sukiro's wrist and stepped back. Just then, Sukiro's mother knocked and opened the door.

"How are you two doing?" Her mother asked a little too enthusiastically. Sukiro, on the other side, was nearly breathless.

"I hope you like chocolate cake, Ryuzaki. I found some left in the kitchen. Sukiro doesn't like it, so if you want more just let me know." She then proceeded to place the two cups of tea and the chocolate cake on Sukiro's desk, where Ryuzaki eyed it tentatively.

"I very much like chocolate cake, thank you," He mumbled as he picked up his plate.

"I don't want the door locked," Sukiro's mother said, addressing Sukiro. She rolled her eyes, when would she ever want to lock her door with Ryuzaki inside? If anything, she felt like running away at that moment.

When Sukiro's mother was gone, Sukiro couldn't help feel embarrassed of her actions. She diverted her eyes from Ryuzaki, who gladly took his time on eating the chocolate cake. All the while, however, she stayed put where she stood in front of her bookshelf, instinctively protecting it from Ryuzaki.

"Would you drop it and tell me why you're really here? It's getting on my nerves."

"Me being here is getting on your nerves? I wonder why?"

"Would you answer my question?" She pushed. She was tired of playing cat and mouse with him. If only for once, Sukiro wanted Ryuzaki to be clear with her. She knew he suspected her of being the Third Kira, that was no novelty, but what was his intention of following her to her house? It took no genius to know he was not going to get a confession from her, and he had to be smart enough to know that evidence of the killings wouldn't be standing visibly all over her house. He had another purpose, and she wanted to beat it out of him. If only she could.

"I wanted to make sure you arrived safely to your house," He said simply, surprising Sukiro. "You see, I'm not the only one who followed you home."

This took her back even more. "What do you mean?"

"Well, unlike me, he didn't go as far as following you into your house, but I'm certainly not the only one who knows where you live now."

Sukiro suddenly understood who Ryuzaki was talking about. That guy, Usui. Of course a guy like him wouldn't simply leave with his arms crossed. It was his masculine pride he wouldn't allow to crumble.

"I'm not afraid of him," Sukiro decided, although not even she was completely convinced by her statement. "And that gives you no reason to follow me."

"I suppose you're right," Ryuzaki took another piece of cake to his mouth. "I guess that was not my only reason. I also wanted wanted to ask you to seriously consider our invitation for you to join the task force against Kira. When Light mentioned it, it occured to me you could be of real help to us. Besides, if you're not in any way connected to Kira, I don't see why you would decline."

"I'm sure Kira wouldn't decline either," Sukiro pointed out.

"You're right," Ryuzaki took a sip of his tea. He then proceeded to add five spoonfuls of sugar and took another sip, this time seeming more satisfied by its taste. "However, the Third Kira might."

"What do you mean?"

"You see, the Third Kira is in no way similar to the original Kira. As a matter of fact, she's not like the Second Kira, either. And it is very likely that she would much rather stay away from anything that had to do with the pursue of Kira than participate in any investigation. She's also very likely to run away when confronted by a detective."

"What brings you to deducing this, if I may ask? And what make you think the Third Kira is a she?" Sukiro couldn't believe how accurate Ryuzaki's analysis was. He had practically busted her.

"Oh I'm certain the Third Kira is a woman. It doesn't take much to know that, all you have to do is look into her victims and you would know its more likely for it to be a her than a him. Actually, I'm not only certain it's a woman, but also that it's a woman around her 18-20 years of age, only in her first year of university. And I'm able to deduce her actions based on her victims, also. You see, unlike the other two Kiras, this Kira has attempted to avoid attracting attention to its murders. If anything, she has just begun attempting to hide them even more than before, by killing people outside her circle of people. Celebrities, petty criminals outside Japan, political figures... And right when we just began suspecting her of being a student at Ta-Ho University."

"I see," Sukiro looked down, "And you realize you have also described my personality, which is why you suspect me." This wasn't a question. Sukiro knew exactly that her personality perfectly matched that of the Third Kira. Ryuzaki had also been correct in his analysis. Well, mostly correct. The only thing he hadn't realized was that her intention wasn't to divert attention from herself. Her victims were people she really wanted dead. They might appear like unimportant people to everyone else and thus attract confusion to why they were being murdered, but to Sukiro the reason was more than evident. The fact that they were unimportant was the very reason why she killed them. They were unimportant and yet they were conceited and egocentric. And when it came to celebrities and corrupt political figures, Sukiro also thought of them as useless. Their existence brought nothing good to the world, and thus the had to cease existing. And as long as Sukiro had the death note, she would make sure every last one of them would be erased from the face of the earth. They could continue with their dull existences in hell or wherever it was they were bound to end up.

"Correct," Ryuzaki said. "Although to be honest, I hope I'm wrong in suspecting you. You see, I'm begining to like you. You're quite an interesting person."

Sukiro blushed and looked away. "I think I would rather have you suspect me that like me," she said, although she couldn't keep the smile from reaching her lips.

"I don't have compassion for criminals, however," Sukiro looked at Ryuzaki as he turned to the door with an empty plate and cup in his hands. "Please consider our invitation. I'll be leaving now, your mother won't be happy if I stay longer."

"Ryuzaki?" Sukiro called just as he opened the door.

"Yes?"

"Thank you for what you did today," She said, looking down.

"Oh, right. You are welcome."

When he left and closed the door behind him, Sukiro collapsed on her bed. What a mess she had gotten herself into.

"Don't tell me you'll stop writing on the death note now that you like him, will you?" Yuuko asked, looking worried. If there was something she hated was human emotions and their ability to change people.

Sukiro, however, responded with a smile.

"Quite the opposite Yuuko," she said, sitting back up. "If anything, i'm more motivated than ever."


End file.
